[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6652 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6652
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish certain health
services to veterans in the Freely Associated States, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2025
Mrs. King-Hinds (for herself, Mrs. Radewagen, Mr. Moylan, Mr. Case, and
Ms. Tokuda) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish certain health
services to veterans in the Freely Associated States, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``U.S. Vets of the FAS Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO FURNISH CERTAIN HEALTH SERVICES TO VETERANS IN
THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.
(a) Agreements Required.--Consistent with section 1724(f) of title
38, United States Code, and section 209(a)(4)(A) of the Compact of Free
Association Amendments Act of 2024 (48 U.S.C. 1988(a)(4)(A)), the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall work expeditiously with the
governments of the Freely Associated States to enter into the
agreements described in such sections.
(b) Inclusion of Telehealth and Mail Order Pharmacy Services
Required.--Consistent with such sections and with the agreements
required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall furnish to veterans in
the Freely Associated States services that include, at a minimum--
(1) health services provided by telehealth; and
(2) pharmaceutical products delivered by mail.
(c) Implementation Dates.--In carrying out subsections (a) and (b),
the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable--
(1) initiate outreach to each such government not later
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act;
(2) enter into each agreement required by subsection (a)
not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act; and
(3) begin furnishing the services required by paragraphs
(1) and (2) of subsection (b) not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Payments for Beneficiary Travel Required.--
(1) In general.--Section 111(h)(1) of title 38, United
States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking ``Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, the Secretary may make payments'' and
inserting ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
``(A) The Secretary may make payments''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) If, with respect to any fiscal year, the Secretary
exercises the authority under this section to make any
payments, the Secretary shall make the payments provided for in
subparagraph (A).''.
(2) Applicability.--Subparagraph (B) of such section
111(h)(1) shall apply to travel occurring on or after the date
that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(e) Reports.--Not less frequently than quarterly, the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
implementation of this section and the cost of such implementation.
Until the Secretary has entered into the agreements required by
subsection (a) and begun furnishing the services required by paragraphs
(1) and (2) of subsection (b), the report shall also describe the
technical and logistical factors that have prevented or impeded the
Secretary from doing so.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Freely associated states.--The term ``Freely Associated
States'' has the meaning given such term in section 1724(f) of
title 38, United States Code.
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